POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
Funds need to position for climate change or lose returns
Superannuation funds that are not positioning their portfolios to address climate change are not achieving their purpose of providing strong long-term sustainable returns, according to Aware Super.
Speaking on a climate change panel, the fund’s chief executive, Deanne Stewart, said climate change was one of the biggest risks and funds needed to make sure they adjusted their portfolios accordingly if they wanted to provide sustainable long-term returns.
“It’s not to do with activism, it’s to do with getting ahead of the trend, protecting members and looking for great opportunities. What you don’t know is when things are going to happen but you know that they will so if you’re not positioning accordingly you’re putting your members at risk,” she said.
Stewart said words and setting goals were important, but they meant little unless funds had specific actions on how they were going to achieve them.
“It started with setting 2050 net zero emissions but working back from there, within the next decade to meet the Paris agreement what do we need to do in our portfolio? Where do we think different companies are likely to move?” she said.
“We have to look at physical risk, reputational risk, and financial risk, and it impacts so many more sectors than we think. We’re talking about agriculture, health, construction, and so on.
“With our portfolio we’re looking at transitioning that over the next decade to reduce emissions by 45% and then importantly over the next three years reduce by 30% in our listed equity portfolio. We think that’s getting ahead of the trend and that will provide better opportunities and protect our members over most other funds.”
Recommended for you
The super fund has significantly grown its membership following the inclusion of Zurich’s OneCare Super policyholders.
Super balances have continued to rise in August, with research showing Australian funds have maintained strong momentum, delivering steady gains for members.
Australian Retirement Trust and State Street Investment Management have entered a partnership to deliver global investment insights and practice strategies to Australian advisers.
CPA Australia is pressing the federal government to impose stricter rules on the naming and marketing of managed investment and superannuation products that claim to be “sustainable”, “ethical”, or “responsible”, warning that vague or untested claims are leaving investors exposed.
TOP PERFORMING FUNDS
ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
DomaCom DFS Mortgage
76.97 3 y p.a(%)
2
Global X 21Shares Bitcoin ETF
76.46 3 y p.a(%)
3
UBS Solactive Global Pure Gold Miners UCITS ETF Dis USD
51.13 3 y p.a(%)
4
Global X GlobalX FANG+ ETF
45.15 3 y p.a(%)
5
Select Baker steel Gold Institutional
43.78 3 y p.a(%)
